WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ (MACP) -- After all-day meetings of the first Morocco-US Strategic Dialogue yesterday at the State Department,Moroccan Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Youssef Amrani said,"this Strategic Dialogue elevates and strengthens the already excellent and mutually beneficial relations between the two countries under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI and President Barack Obama." In his closing statement, Minister Amrani said the meetings were productiveand set a framework for advancing peace and progress in the region.

The US and Morocco agreed on a path to secure ongoing democratic reforms, economic growth, tolerance, and stability in a region facing new challenges and change. They set up a framework to work on political, security, and human rights issues; business, energy, energy, education, interfaith relations; and regional issues including the Sahel, Libya, and Syria.

On the important bilateral issue of working together to realistically resolve the Western Sahara, Amrani stressed the commitment of both countries: "As Secretary Clinton has said many times in the past and reiterated today, the compromise political solution that Morocco has put on the table with its Autonomy Initiative is 'serious, credible and realistic.' Secretary Clinton has also emphasized that support for this kind of compromise solution has been unchanged and continues to be the policy of the Obama Administration today."

Morocco and the US launched the dialogue yesterday, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling Morocco "a leader and a model." Both nations condemned the attack on the US Consulate in Libya and urged tolerance and dialogue to counter those who spread hate.

Finally, the two countries agreed the next meeting of the strategic dialogue will be held in 2013, in Morocco.

The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principle mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials, and interested publics in the United States about political and social developments in Morocco and the role being played by the Kingdom of Morocco in broader strategic developments in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. For more, please visit www.moroccoonthemove.com.

This material is distributed by the Moroccan American Center for Policy on behalf of the Government of Morocco. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.